


Trust

by BeeAnka



Series: Sing Me A Song Of Despair Side Stories: Friends [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 07:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13336479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeeAnka/pseuds/BeeAnka
Summary: Determined to help Ikusaba with a personal problem she trusted him with, Makoto decides to ask one of his other classmates for assistance.





	Trust

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo... this is a series I've been meaning to start. It's basically just a collection of side stories that take place during 'Sing Me A Song Of Despair', except they don't fit in the main story for various reasons. It's mostly gonna be about the characters being friends and hanging out together. I kind of want to give everyone some time together -- the next one is probably gonna be about Sayaka and Asahina, but I'm not sure yet. This isn't, like, getting a regular update schedule. Just what I manage to write on the side.
> 
> Some people really wanted to read about the part where Naegi asks Kirigiri about the names for Mukuro, so here you go! This story takes place during 'Allegro' and 'Sonata', just to make it clear.
> 
> I felt cheap putting the Ikuzono tag in a story even if I point out it's just implied, but I wanted it to be the first relationship tag of the series, and I don't think you can like, edit your entire series' tags to reassign stuff. Which I personally find baffling, but whatever! I still love AO3 for letting me create one to begin with.

* * *

 

Even though it's only been a few hours since lunch break, Makoto still has the irrational feeling that he's in danger.

It's ridiculous. And well, it sure felt that way at the moment, but there's no way Ikusaba was about to throw him off the roof or anything... or was she? His heartbeat still increases when he thinks about her glare, that's for sure.

Ikusaba Mukuro is terrifying.

She didn't mean it though. Makoto is sure of that. He should cut her some slack; she was just nervous about how he was going to react, which is totally understandable. Besides, Ikusaba doesn't exactly strike him as a... people person to begin with. Today was the first time she's actually spoken to him, he's pretty sure. Before that, most she did was blankly look at him with mild confusion whenever he tried making conversation with her.

Honestly, he should have probably given up right away. It would have been the polite thing to do too, considering Ikusaba never showed any interest in talking to him, but she sits right next to him and well... he feels self-conscious for not really having an actual friend yet. School hasn't started that long ago, but still... he wants to be able to tell stuff to Komaru about his friends, not just what the school is like. He feels like a loser.

Komaru keeps trying to talk him into getting Maizono's autograph too. Makoto can't imagine why someone as cool and popular as Maizono Sayaka would ever hang out with him, and approaching her just for an autograph is out of the question, so his little sister will most likely have to wait a long time for that. It's already a wonder that the idol greets him in the morning. He isn't brave enough to push his frankly terrible luck beyond that.

And Maizono is the girl Ikusaba has a crush on? He wishes her all the luck in the world.

He does spend some time with a few classmates, but they mostly try to cajole him into doing stuff for them. Either that or they just complain about things to him. Not that he minds, really, but it just feels like they would have picked anyone else if they'd been around too. They never choose to spend time with Makoto because of his own merits.

Maybe he just doesn't have his own merits.

Ikusaba may have done the same as them, but not only was her reason for doing so far better than anyone else's so far, she actually _apologized_ afterwards. And she wants to eat lunch with him again, too. It's probably ridiculous to feel so happy about both of those things, but Makoto can't help it. It was kinda embarrassing to just state they were friends, but Ikusaba didn't seem to mind that.

He's looking forward to tomorrow's lunch break. Hopefully, Ikusaba and he can just chat casually without it turning into one of the possibly worst moments of his entire life this time.

... Okay, that's a bit dramatic, but it really was both incredibly uncomfortable and scary. He's glad he could help her out at least, though. And, well, something bad was followed by something good. Balance, and all.

Besides Ikusaba, the two other people who come closest to actually being his friends are probably Kuwata and Kirigiri.

True, Kuwata spends most of their time together complaining about baseball practice, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. He's friendly enough, and they actually manage to have a casual conversation too most of the time. And while every time Makoto talks to Kirigiri turns out to be somewhere between mildly and incredibly awkward, he thinks that's mostly due to Kirigiri, much like Ikusaba, being not much of a people person rather than any dislike towards him.

He has to wonder what a conversation between Kirigiri and Ikusaba would look like. Well, if Ikusaba decides to talk to Kirigiri about that whole romantic orientation thing, they'd have to speak to each other. He can't imagine it'd be much more awkward than with Togami or Celeste though.

... On second thought, maybe recommending Togami and Celeste wasn't one of his better ideas. They're not... _cruel_ or anything, but... well, okay, Togami is pretty mean sometimes and Celeste can be vicious too, but they're not bad people. Makoto likes all of his classmates -- not that he really knows most of them -- and these two aren't an exception. Still, he knows who he'd rather talk to out of everyone he suggested.

And he can't imagine Ikusaba would react well to either Togami or Celeste either. He likes to think both of them would be nicer than usually considering the sensitive topic, but... what if they weren't? Unlike Togami, Celeste isn't actually unkind, but she has a pretty violent temper that seems to come out of nowhere at times, not to mention she seems like the kind of person who might blackmail someone over this... maybe. Ikusaba would either feel terrible or, possibly, throw her classmates out of a window or something! What was he thinking?!

Considering Ikusaba is most likely going to ask her sister first, maybe Makoto could do his new friend a little favor. Though he doesn't want to bother Kirigiri in the afternoon either...

But, Makoto tells himself as he closes the currently trending funny cats video on Youtube and turns his laptop off, it's definitely for a good cause.

As soon as he stands in front of Kirigiri's dorm room though, all of his motivation seems to have evaporated.

How on earth can he bring the topic of romantic orientation up without making things awkward? Or at least only slightly awkward? It's probably not possible. He can't tell anyone that it's Ikusaba he's talking about, so it'd just look like he was asking for himself. Saying he's asking for a friend would only make him look more suspicious.

But he wants to help out Ikusaba! And while Makoto doesn't know Kirigiri as well as he'd like, there's no way she's a homophobe or anything like that. He just can't imagine it at all. It's probably stupid to blindly put his faith into her, but he trusts her. Despite coming across as cold sometimes, he knows she's actually kind. She'd probably want to help out Ikusaba herself if she knew!

With that in mind, Makoto rings the doorbell and bravely stands his ground.

And also bravely suppresses the urge to run away as fast as he can.

Kirigiri doesn't seem surprised to see him, but then Makoto isn't sure her expression ever actually changes or he just imagines it whenever it seems to happen... okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still. "Naegi-kun," she says. "Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, Kirigiri-san." Makoto greets back. "Uh, I do actually need some help. It's about something... private. I'm so sorry for bothering you, but I can't think of anyone else to go to with this." He really hopes he isn't sounding like a complete weirdo.

"I see." Kirigiri seems to give him a calculating look, before stepping back from her door. "If it's private, then you should come inside."

"Huh?" Makoto scratches his cheek -- a nervous tic from when he was little that he's never grown out of. "Y-You don't have to invite me into your room, Kirigiri-san."

"Would you rather tell me something private here, where anyone walking by could hear it?" Kirigiri asks. She has a point.

"You're right, sorry. Then... thanks for having me over." Makoto steps into her room, Kirigiri closing the door behind him. He looks around, though hopefully that doesn't come across as weird either. "Your room is nice."

"Thank you." Kirigiri doesn't make a move to sit down or offer him to do the same. She crosses her arms. "What kind of help do you want?"

Makoto should have expected her to get right to the point. "Uh, you see... it has something to do with... romance?"

There is an awkward pause, Kirigiri merely giving him an indecipherable look. "Go on." She encourages.

"It's about uh... romantic orientation and... what to do if you like someone with the same gender as you." Makoto winces. Are there any worse ways to bring this up?

"Ah." Kirigiri makes an understanding noise. "I don't think I'm qualified to give advice when it comes to that, Naegi-kun. I don't have any experience when it comes to any kind of... dating in general." She pauses, and, before he can sputter incomprehensible gibberish, adds: "I do know some people who might be able to help you though."

"Uh... th-that's what I was trying to ask about actually. I wasn't trying to ask you directly for advice, Kirigiri-san!" Makoto tries to assure her as best as he can.

"So you concluded that I wouldn't have any experience with romance?" Kirigiri seems to think out loud. "Very perceptive."

"I wasn't trying to say that!" Makoto feels slight panic setting in. He really wasn't trying to offend her or anything.

To his surprise, Kirigiri makes a sound that almost sounds amused. "I know. Don't worry about it. Now then, you obviously don't want to tell me who the person you're asking for is, but can you tell me what kind of person they would respond to positively?"

"Huh?" Wait, has he heard that correctly? "You don't think I'm asking for myself?"

"I know you aren't." Kirigiri answers. "You're an open book, Naegi-kun. If you were asking for yourself, you would behave in an entirely different manner."

"I... I would?" Makoto feels pretty confused, almost offended at being told what he would act like. Still, Kirigiri is so smart she's probably right.

"Yes." Kirigiri simply says. "Now, can you respond to my question?"

"Sorry!" Makoto quickly tries to think of someone Ikusaba could talk to about this kind of topic. "Maybe... someone nice? I guess that's obvious, so... someone patient. Someone who's more reserved, I guess? Someone who's unlikely to uh... be mean or anything?" It doesn't sound like a helpful list to him, but he isn't sure what else to say.

"I see." Kirigiri looks thoughtful. "Keep in mind that there isn't a large number of people I can point you to, which means the two people I'm about to recommend aren't going to be perfect, but I think they'll do. Furthermore, I only know that these people are attracted to their own gender, not what their specific sexualities are."

"You already have two people in mind?!" Makoto asks. To say he's surprised would be an understatement, considering his less than helpful rambling just now.

"Yes. They're from the upper class, so I hope that isn't an issue."

"I don't think so...?" Makoto doesn't believe that would bother Ikusaba much. "Oh, wait! Can you write it down instead of saying it, please?"

"Of course." Kirigiri answers, not bothering to ask why. She probably figured it out immediately anyway. She walks to her desk and pulls out a smallish piece of paper from one of the drawers. "I'm going to write down a boy and a girl, to balance things out." She gives him a look. "Any objections? Would you rather it was either two boys or two girls?"

"N-No, I don't think so." Makoto replies. He isn't sure how big of a difference that'd make, and also doesn't want to narrow down who he's asking for. "It's fine like that, I think."

"If you say so." Kirigiri writes the two names down, after which she neatly folds the piece of paper and hands it to him.

"Thank you so much for doing this, Kirigiri-san!" Makoto tells her earnestly. This was a lot less uncomfortable than he thought it would be. "If you ever need a favor from me or anything like that, please ask!"

"I'll keep that in mind." Kirigiri pauses, seemingly mulling over something. "Naegi-kun, may I ask you something?"

Makoto isn't sure whether he should feel nervous or not. "Uh, sure!"

"This isn't related to that." Kirigiri inclines her head towards the folded piece of paper he's holding. "You spent your lunch break with Ikusaba-san today, right?"

Makoto tries his best to keep a straight face. "Yeah, I did." He says evenly.

"Would you consider her a friend?"

"Uh..." Makoto scratches his cheek. He isn't sure why Kirigiri is asking this now. She explicitly said this wasn't related to what's on the piece of paper, and he doesn't believe she'd tell such a blatant lie, but he has no idea how else to interpret the questions. Still, she'd see through it immediately if he refused to answer. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, I consider her my friend and I hope she thinks the same."

Kirigiri gives him a searching look. "I see," she says. "Then do you consider me your friend as well?"

"Huh?" Makoto blinks stupidly, not having expected that kind of question at all. "That's... y-yeah! I like to think we're friends, at least."

Kirigiri nods like she expected that answer. "If that's the case, can I give you some advice, from one friend to another? And can you promise me that you'll keep it to yourself?"

Makoto swallows. Kirigiri looks... very serious. "Y-Yeah, if you think it's important. I promise"

"You're not the kind of person who would break a promise easily." Kirigiri says approvingly and her expression softens a bit. "And I hope I'm not offending you by telling you this, but since we're friends I think I should." Then, her eyes narrow as she gives her warning. "Be careful around Ikusaba-san."

"... Huh?" Makoto asks. "What do you mean?"

"I know things about her that would make you think twice about spending time with her." Kirigiri says. "You don't become the Ultimate Soldier for excelling in training simulations."

Makoto feels his own eyes narrow now. Sure, he was scared of Ikusaba earlier today, but she didn't actually do anything bad. She was probably scared herself, even. "What are you trying to say? That... she's going to hurt me?"

"I'm saying that she's dangerous. And that this school doesn't care whether someone is a criminal or not. The presence of the Ultimate Yakuza only reinforces my point." Kirigiri smiles, but it looks very cold. "It's just what I would expect of the administration here."

"I don't know anything about the Ultimate Yakuza, but Ikusaba-san is the Ultimate Soldier. That's not illegal." Makoto points out. He can't believe he's actually trying to argue with Kirigiri, but he can't just ignore what she's saying about Ikusaba.

"On paper, yes. But like I said, I know things about her. Things that definitely aren't legal."

Makoto is sure Kirigiri has a good reason for being so secretive, but he can't help but feel a bit frustrated by it. Still, he tries to keep that out of his voice. "I'm not sure what you're getting at... do you think I should stop being friends with her?"

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do." Kirigiri says mildly. "If you want to know what I think though, then yes. You shouldn't be her friend."

Makoto is a bit taken aback by how bluntly Kirigiri told him that. After gathering his thoughts a bit, he begins speaking. "I appreciate that you're worried, Kirigiri-san, but I think Ikusaba-san is a nice person. I know I haven't gotten to know her that well yet, but... the same is true for you. And I trusted you enough to come ask you for help, and you did help me!" He scratches his cheek, feeling embarrassed. He's probably not making a whole lot of sense right now. "So I think it's fine to trust Ikusaba-san too..."

He almost expected Kirigiri to get angry at him, but she merely looks thoughtful. "You shouldn't trust people so easily," she advises. "But I respect your decision. And I admit, I don't know the context of Ikusaba-san's actions. I shouldn't judge her too harshly. Still, I would like for you to be careful around her."

"I'll try to be." Makoto promises. He doesn't think he has to be, but he can do that much for a concerned friend. Though he isn't sure what being careful around Ikusaba would entail... not following her into dark alleyways? "Uh, I should probably get out of your hair. I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, Kirigiri-san." He doesn't want to leave so abruptly, but this conversation made him very uncomfortable.

"I do have some things I need to work on, yes." Kirigiri agrees easily, walking towards the door. When her right hand -- he wonders if he'll ever find out why she's always wearing those black gloves -- touches the handle though, she turns to him again, almost looking embarrassed. "I apologize, Naegi-kun. I think I was a little out of line, talking like this about Ikusaba-san."

"It's okay!" Makoto immediately assures her, holding his hands up in an allaying manner. "You were just worried. And it's not like you've ever talked to Ikusaba-san, I think... so you wouldn't know her the way I do. Maybe you two could be friends too?"

"You have a lot of faith in your friends, don't you?" Kirigiri's question doesn't sound like it needs an answer, so he doesn't say anything. He notices she didn't adress the part about Ikusaba and her being friends. "Thank you for accepting my apology." She opens the door.

Makoto walks out of the door, turning around. "Thanks for your help again, Kirigiri-san." He tells her with a smile. Even if she said some things that made him a little upset, she only had good intentions. He can't be mad at her.

"You're welcome, Naegi-kun." She looks at the note he's still holding. To his surprise, she smiles back ever so slightly, and it's not a cold smile like the one from before. "Whoever the person is you're helping, they should consider themself lucky to have you as their friend."

"That's... I don't think it's a big deal..."

"Maybe that's how your luck works," Kirigiri muses, ignoring his stammering. "You don't have it yourself, but you bring it to others."

Makoto blushes, not quite sure whether it's the embarrassment or because he feels happy upon hearing that. "You're making fun of me." He accuses weakly.

"Friendly teasing at worst." Kirigiri says. "But I really do mean what I said. You're a good friend."

"Thanks... you're a good friend too, you know? For that." Makoto holds up the piece of paper as emphasis. "Thanks again for your help!"

"You're repeating yourself, but that's fine. So am I. You're welcome again." Kirigiri cracks another smile. He almost can't believe what he's seeing. "See you tomorrow, Naegi-kun."

"See you tomorrow, Kirigiri-san." Makoto replies.

He feels pretty good when he goes back to his own dorm room. Despite some awkwardness and... the stuff where Kirigiri tried to make him stop being friends with Ikusaba... it went pretty well all in all.

As soon as he's closed the door behind himself, he goes on to put the note into his school bag. It wouldn't do to forget it tomorrow. He's kinda looking forward to seeing Ikusaba's face when he gives the piece of paper to her.

Makoto really hopes the people Kirigiri wrote down will be able to help.

That night, he has a hard time falling asleep in spite of being dead tired -- he's stayed up too late watching cat videos again. His thoughts keep drifting back to Kirigiri's warning.

What did Ikusaba do? As the Ultimate Soldier, she might have done some bad things, that much is true. Shooting people is part of a soldier's job though, isn't it? That doesn't justify it, but he doesn't know enough to judge Ikusaba.

Something tells him Kirigiri was talking about more than that though.

Even so, Makoto doesn't think Ikusaba is a bad person. She's a bit strange, yes, but she was nice enough in her own way. Maybe 'nice' is a strong word, but she wasn't being mean, just a bit blunt. And her awkward behavior is hard to associate with her... apparently doing terrible things. He knows it doesn't really make sense to assume anything based on that, but still... not to mention, her apology afterwards. He can't be annoyed either way.

If Ikusaba hadn't asked him for help, he wouldn't have found out Kirigiri thought of her and him as friends. Which means he has already two people who consider themselves his friends.

He'll finally be able to talk to Komaru without feeling like a loser.

 

-

 

"Good morning." The voice is enough to startle Makoto out of his half-dazed state. He suppresses a yawn -- he really didn't get enough sleep last night. He raises his head and sees Ikusaba blankly looking down at him.

"Good morning, Ikusaba-san!" Makoto greets her back, though he's a bit embarrassed at how chipper it comes out. Truth be hold, he was a little worried she'd pretend yesterday never happened because of all the awkwardness during their conversation.

Especially the part with the two men. He still feels the need to crawl under a table to hide whenever he thinks about Ikusaba's disturbingly false smile when she told that story.

"Did you sleep well?" Ikusaba asks as she sits down on her seat.

Makoto scratches his cheek. "Not really. I guess I stayed up too late browsing the internet." He says, deciding to leave the part about her out. That'd just be weird to bring up. What is he supposed to do? Ask her if she ever committed any war crimes?

Ikusaba frowns as if she heard his thoughts, and he feels an irrational flash of fear. "Never put your faith in the internet when you want help." She says instead, confusing him.

"Uh... I'll keep that in mind," he answers. Oh, wait, didn't she mention something about looking for help in the internet for her problem? "The search didn't go that well?" He asks, feeling a little bad for her. The internet can be a terrible place. Especially when you want to look at a funny cat video, but it's a screamer instead... he can still hear Komaru laughing at him.

"It was mostly people making fun of me." Ikusaba says flatly. Makoto hopes she didn't come across any bigots during her search.

He blinks. Right! Kirigiri's note! Makoto puts his school bag on his lap and reaches inside.

"I'm sorry it didn't help. But," he rifles around in his bag, and it's taking longer than it should. He didn't forget about it, did he? That'd be embarrassing. "Uh, wait, did I take it- yeah!" At last he spots the elusive note and pulls it out of his bag. "It's about your search. I talked to Kirigiri-san yesterday and she said she knows two people who you could talk to."

Ikusaba's eyes wander from him, to Kirigiri two seats in front of them, and back to him again. "You talked to her about that? Why?" She asks.

Despite that her voice doesn't sound like it, he can't help but think she disapproves. "It's just... I thought you'd be too uncomfortable asking her yourself, so I did it in your place." Makoto explains meekly. "She said she wrote two names on there. I hope they can help you."

Taking the note from him, Ikusaba asks another question. "Why didn't she just tell you?"

That's easy enough to answer. "It feels rude to know something they probably wouldn't want me to know, so I asked Kirigiri-san to write it down and fold the paper so I could give it to you. I felt a little bad asking at all, but you need help." Makoto explains, scratching his cheek... but then realizes he's probably put that badly just now, and hastily elaborates. "N-Not that I mentioned you by name, I just said I wanted to know for a friend."

Ikusaba glares at him for a moment, possibly trying to decide whether she believes him or not, but then nods, much to Makoto's relief. She unfolds the piece of paper and reads the two names with a frown, then folds it again and puts it into her school bag. "I will destroy this as soon as I can." She says, giving him a rather intense look.

"Thanks!" Makoto tells her. He's glad he could help her out. Granted, she doesn't _sound_ thankful, but he's sure her words just now were meant to be reassuring.

"I should be the one saying it," Ikusaba says, her intense look softening. "You didn't have to do any of that."

"Well, we're friends. Right?" Makoto smiles at her, hoping she doesn't notice how nervous he feels. It's probably pathetic, but he wants to make sure there are no misunderstandings.

That's why he's happy when Ikusaba returns the smile, though it looks somewhat forced. He believes that's less her being insincere and more her being awkward by nature though. "Yes." It seems like she wants to say something else, but isn't sure whether to bring it up or not. After a moment, she adds: "You're a good friend."

Makoto hopes he isn't blushing, but he's always been weak against getting praised. Kirigiri did the same yesterday... oh, that reminds him. "I didn't do that much..." He says, not wanting to downplay his other friend's help. "Kirigiri-san is the one you should thank." After all, she's the one who actually got the names.

Ikusaba looks thoughtful for a moment, before reaching inside her school bag and pulling the piece of paper out. Before Makoto can say anything, she's walking over to Kirigiri and begins a conversation that he can't hear, courtesy of Ishimaru and Oowada very loudly arguing right behind him all of a sudden. Ultimate Unlucky Student indeed... though he admonishes himself for that thought immediately. It's not like Ikusaba's and Kirigiri's conversation is any of his business.

When Ikusaba returns to her seat, Makoto decides to question her on what she just did. "It was nice of you to do that, but uh..." He tries to think of how to word it for a moment. "I could have told her you say thanks without revealing who you are. I thought you didn't want anyone to know." It's not like he doesn't think Kirigiri isn't trustworthy, but Ikusaba doesn't give the impression of trusting people easily.

Sure, she told him about her secret, but she probably thinks he wouldn't be stupid enough to tell anyone, considering her being the Ultimate Soldier and all. And she's right; even if Makoto was the kind of person who would do such a thing, he wouldn't ever risk crossing someone like Ikusaba. Kirigiri, on the other hand... she gives the impression of being fearless... but he supposes being fearless isn't the same as being stupid, and he can't see Kirigiri giving Ikusaba a reason to get angry at her.

"You wouldn't ask her to begin with if you didn't trust her." Ikusaba says, bringing him out of his thoughts. "I've already trusted you enough to tell you, so I am trusting your judgement as well."

Makoto lets out a quiet laugh, both out of joy and relief. He feels oddly touched by Ikusaba's trust... has he really done enough to earn it? Maybe she isn't that stingy with it after all. "I'm flattered you trust me, so I can't complain." He tells her, scratching his cheek.

Today is probably the first day ever where he's in high spirits during an hour of math, and even afterwards. He can't help feeling happy. He's actually made two friends who are so... impressive, he thinks is the right word? Ikusaba Mukuro and Kirigiri Kyouko... the Ultimate Soldier and, if the rumors he heard are correct, the Ultimate Detective... two girls with such amazing talents actually want to be his friends? It's hard to believe.

When it's time for lunch break though, Maizono suddenly appears at Ikusaba's desk. "Ready to go?" She asks her.

Oh. Makoto feels his spirits sink. He's glad that Ikusaba gets to have lunch with the girl she has a crush on, but he's been looking forward to this. Well, he can't really blame either of them...

Ikusaba smiles at Maizono, and it looks rather strained to Makoto. "I'm sorry, Sayaka-san," she says. "There is something I have to ask Junko-chan first. Do you mind waiting on the roof with Naegi-kun for a minute?"

Makoto is taken aback. Ikusaba wants him to be there too? Why would she? Why wouldn't she ask him to hang back for this...? Oh! Is that what she was trying to bring up before, when she really looked like she wanted to say something? But then she didn't...

"I don't mind!" Maizono replies, her eyes wandering to Makoto. She flashes him a dazzling smile. "Naegi-kun is joining us today?"

Maizono doesn't mind either? Someone popular like her, eating lunch with the boy who least deserves to be in Hope's Peak Academy? Makoto glances over to Ikusaba, and from the suffering look in her face immediately understands that she wants to spend lunch break alone with Maizono, but didn't want to say anything before either out of gratitude or to spare his feelings.

Ikusaba, he decides, is a good friend. So he should follow her example.

Makoto groans, hoping it doesn't sound too fake. "I totally forgot I already promised Kuwata-kun that I'd have lunch with him. I'm so sorry!" He hopes Kuwata won't mind having lunch with him.

"Don't worry about it! It's not like you promised either of us you'd eat lunch with us." Maizono assures. "Right, Mukuro-san?"

"Right," Ikusaba agrees, looking a bit puzzled. "It's not an issue."

Maizono turns her head to Ikusaba. "Then I'll see you on the roof. Don't worry, I'll get us the best bench in the entire school!"

"I'm looking forward to it." Ikusaba answers. She watches Maizono walk off, then glances back to him with a frown. "You didn't have to do that." She mumbles.

Makoto smiles. He almost wants to shoot back with a 'Likewise', but out loud he says: "It's your first lunch together with Maizono-san. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"I'm grateful," Ikusaba says with an air of awkwardness. "If you ever need a favor, feel free to ask."

"We're friends, Ikusaba-san! I'm just happy to help." Makoto tells her sincerely.

"Alright," Ikusaba says. She looks like she's thinking something over for a moment, before speaking again. "So since we're friends, it's okay for you to ask me for help anytime. Because friends help each other. Does that sound correct?"

Makoto laughs. Was he just imagining it or did Ikusaba sound sly and almost teasing just now? "Yeah, that sounds fine," he says. "Enjoy your lunch with Maizono-san!"

He receives a nod, after which Ikusaba walks off to Enoshima's seat, the latter of whom looks half dead. He can sympathize -- history class is incredibly boring.

"Hey, Kuwata-kun?" Makoto asks the boy two seats behind him, who's also still reeling from all the boredom. "Do you feel like eating lunch together?"

Kuwata shrugs. "Sure, Naegi." He yawns and stretches. "I've been meaning to ask how on earth you managed to get more than a word out of Ikusaba Ultimate Ice Queen Mukuro anyway."

"That's a secret, sorry." Makoto says, smiling apologetically. Ikusaba might not want people to know she needed help with something.

"Aw, come on..."

"It's not like you've ever tried talking to her, have you?"

"Well, no," Kuwata admits. "But dude... she's terrifying. Then again, that thing where she swallowed the note was hilarious."

Makoto laughs. It really was.

He's probably gonna have to deal with more questions, but Kuwata isn't someone who will seriously pressure him about it. On the way out of the classroom, he waves at Kirigiri, who nods back at him with her usual stoic face.

While walking with Kuwata to leave the building -- the baseballer grumbling something about having to talk to the P.E. teacher about practice -- Makoto finds himself thinking of Ikusaba and Maizono.

He really hopes things work out between the two. The subtle glint of happiness on Ikusaba's face when Maizono was talking to her told him everything he needed to know, really. Maybe he just imagined it, but Maizono almost seemed to have the same look on her face too.

He feels ridiculous. It's not like he's an expert at reading facial expressions. Still... he thinks they'd make a nice couple. He wonders if Maizono might become his friend in the future too. She doesn't seem to mind the thought of spending lunch break with him, at least. He always wanted to talk to her back in junior high school, but never really got the courage to actually do it. She was always surrounded by people... and, frankly, she was intimidating enough on her own already.

And, sure, he had a childish crush on her back then.. but who hadn't, really? That's one thing Komaru can't tease him about. And he's pretty sure half of Maizono's female friends were kind of in love with her too. The Ultimate Idol just has that kind of charisma.

But now he just wants to get to know her as a classmate, not as some kind of silly crush. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit invested in the entire thing with Ikusaba and her. It's just really cute.

If Maizono really does become his friend too, his little sister is gonna flip out. Would Komaru want to be introduced to her? He has to smile at that thought.

Makoto hasn't ever really considered himself a loser. He's always had a modest amount of friends and likes to think he can get along with almost everyone, but being in a school full of these intimidating Ultimates... he's been feeling like a loser. Out of place.

But now he actually has friends. He still doesn't know what to do with his life yet, and knows his 'talent' isn't a real talent, but for the first time in a long while it feels less... oppressive. Lately he's been thinking maybe coming to Hope's Peak Academy was a mistake, but right now?

Makoto is pretty sure he wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.

* * *

 


End file.
